Lankan PM to visit India on first foreign tour

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s first overseas visit since assuming office will be to India next week during which he will hold extensive talks with the Indian leadership including on the sensitive fishermen issue and a comprehensive economic pact.

During the three-day visit from September?14 to 16, he will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and calling on President Pranab Mukherjee. The visit assumes significance as President Maithripala Sirisena also chose India to be his first overseas destination after being elected to office in January.

Wickremesinghe was elected Prime Minister after his party United National Party won the parliamentary elections last month, finishing just short of a majority.

This is the fourth time he has become the Premier. The 66-year-old was picked by President Sirisena, who handed a shock defeat to Mahinda Rajapaksa in polls, to lead a minority government in January till the parliamentary elections last month.